Juncus tenuis |
Juncus cooperi |
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path rush, poverty or slender rush, poverty rush, slender rush |
Cooper's rush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, tufted, 1.5–5 dm. | Herbs, perennial, robust, tufted, 4–10 dm. |
Rhizomes | densely branching. |
short. |
Culms | few–20. |
terete, 1.5–2.5 mm diam. |
Cataphylls | several, reddish brown, often apiculate. |
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Leaves | basal, (1–)2–3; auricles 2–5 mm, apex acute, membranous; blade flat, 3–12 cm × 0.5–1 mm, margins entire. |
basal, 1–2; auricles essentially absent; blade terete, 10–40 dcm, shorter than culm. |
Inflorescences | 5–40-flowered, borne congested or branch internodes ca. as long as tepals, ssomewhat loose, 1–5 cm; primary bract usually longer than inflorescence. |
glomerules 3–12, each with (1–)2–5 flowers, open, branches unequal, 3–12 cm, primary bract terete or slightly compressed, shorter to longer than inflorescence. |
Flowers | bracteoles 2; tepals greenish, lanceolate, 3.3–4.4 mm; outer and inner series nearly equal; stamens 6, filaments 0.5–0.9 mm, anthers 0.1–0.2 mm; style 0.1–0.2 mm. |
tepals straw-colored to pale green, ovate-lanceolate, 4–5 mm, apex acuminate or setaceous; inner series elliptic, nearly equal, margins wide, scarious, apiculate; stamens 6, filaments 1 mm, anthers 1.5–2 mm; style 1 mm. |
Capsules | tan or light brown, 1-locular to pseudo-3-locular, ellipsoid, (3.3–)3.8–4.7 × (1.1–)1.3–1.7 mm, nearly equal to tepals. |
tan to light reddish brown, 3-locular, ellipsoid, 3.7–4.5 ×1.6–2 mm, mostly shorter than or nearly equal to perianth. |
Seeds | tan, ellipsoid to lunate, (0.52–)5.5–0.65(–0.7) mm, not tailed. |
dark amber, obovoid, body 0.7–1 mm, tails 0.1–0.5 mm. |
2n | = 80. |
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Juncus tenuis |
Juncus cooperi |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Exposed or shaded sites in soils ranging from sandy to clayey under moist or drier conditions, oftentimes these sites naturally or otherwise disturbed (e.g., game or human trails) | Saline flats and meadows or edges of salt marshes |
Elevation | below 600 m (below 2000 ft) | |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK [Introduced worldwide]
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico |
Discussion | Juncus tenuis occurs throughout North America. It is particularly abundant in northeastern United States and eastern Canada, although infrequent in the south and west. Through the use of isozyme electrophoresis, hybridization can be demonstrated between various members of the Juncus tenuis complex, including Juncus tenuis, J. anthelatus, J. interior, J. secundus, and J. dichotomus (R. E. Brooks, unpubl.). Juncus ××oronensis is thought to be a hybrid between J. tenuis and J. vaseyi in the northeast. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Poiophylli | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Juncus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | J. bicornis, J. bicornis var. williamsii, J. macer, J. macer, J. macer var. williamsii, J. tenuis var. bicornis, J. tenuis var. multicornis, J. tenuis var. williamsii | |
Name authority | Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 2(1): 214. (1799) | Engelmann |
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